‘Crisis not solely due to pandemic’

BY Saman Indrajith

The failure of the government to solve problems facing the people was not solely due to the inabilities of the incumbent president, but also because of the failures of those surrounding him, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissnayake said yesterday.

Speaking at a meeting held at the Solis Hall, in Pitakotte, the JVP leader said the SLPP’s mammoth victory at the last presidential election and two-third majority at the general election subsequently were due to the people’s trust in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and the utter incompetence of the government from 2015 to 2019.

“However, one and a half years on, the people have realised they made a mistake and their hopes will not be realised under this government. Public outcry against the government is increasing because of the frustration caused by the failure of the government. The failure of the government is mainly due to the economic and political policies the country has followed for a long time. The current dispensation has aggravated the situation. Under these political and economic policies the people of this country have no future. We are heading towards the biggest ever economic crisis of this country. The Treasury is almost bankrupt and the total government revenue is not sufficient even for the settlement of loan installments. The government is printing money apace. It is said that the government after coming to power has printed over one trillion rupees. On a day of this week over 200 billion rupees have been printed,” Dissanayake said.

He said that the government was now seeking loans from China, India and even Bangladesh. “In the face of this crisis, the government has to either borrow for high interest rates or to sell off remaining national assets. Apart from this economic crisis, there are many social problems. There is a bleak future and we must come up with a plan to steer this nation out of this quagmire,” he said.

General Secretary of the United Left Front, senior lawyer Lal Wijenayake said: “The current crisis is not solely due to the pandemic. This is the result of the total sum of actions by the governments of the past 73 years and their economic and political policies. We must change these policies. We must make a course correction. In order to do so we need leaders who are willing to change the policies of governing the country. Socio-economic problems have created a social crisis and in the meantime corruption is increasing. People have lost faith in this system.

NPP MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya said: “People have been duped continuously by the rulers. They got the votes of people by promising good governance in 2015 and today people abhor those concepts of good governance. In 2019, the people were promised national security, and today we do not see such a thing in existence. This is what has happened in this country for the past 73 years. We must stop repeating the same mistakes.

Prof Hiniduma Sunil Senevi of the Sabaragamuwa University said: “Since 1948 this country has been ruled by green and blue parties alternately but people have not gained anything except have lost their independence, dignity and rights. There is an agitation countrywide coming out of the frustration of people.

Prof Liyanage Amarakeerthi of the Peradeniya University also addressed the meeting.